the people analyst guides · Buckingham & Coffman, 1999
The People Analyst Guide to First, Break All the Rules
The Gallup engagement classic, organized around the measuring stick (engagement conditions that predict unit outcomes) and the four keys of great managers (select for talent, define outcomes, focus on strengths, find the right fit). This companion covers the constructs (never the proprietary Q12 items), grounds them in the engagement and selection literature — flagging where 'talent' and 'strengths' are over-sold — and turns each into a runnable analysis. Most wire to spokes we already run; it braids with Nine Lies (local engagement) and Work Rules.
Start here — the guided path →The chapters
A short, consistent set of workplace-condition questions predicts unit outcomes — measure it, locally.
The analysis you can runTeam-level engagement (our own items, NOT the proprietary Q12).
Hire for recurring patterns of thought/feeling/behavior, not résumé alone (caveat: 'talent' is a fuzzy construct).
The analysis you can runValidated selection + role-fit (quality-of-hire).
Manage to outcomes; let people find their own route, don't script the steps.
The analysis you can runOutcome / alignment analysis.
Invest in strengths, manage around weaknesses (the strengths movement is over-sold; match spike to role).
The analysis you can runRole-fit / KSA profiling.
The right role isn't always 'up'; cast people into fit and build non-up paths.
The analysis you can runRole-fit + career-pathing on the job architecture.
People join companies and leave managers; the local manager sets the conditions.
The analysis you can runManager-effectiveness, graded against unit outcomes.